Is Leo XIV the liberal Pope who’s going to take on Trump?

Remember that AI image Donald Trump posted on Truth Social just a few days ago, of an American pope? Well, take a deep breath, folks, because we have one. Fortunately, this is not Trump, nor one from the school of JD Vance, Catholic convert and scourge of Christians who think loving one’s neighbour is about, well... loving your neighbour, whoever they may be, not just the person who thinks, talks and walks like you. It is Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, and it looks like the world has been delivered a new pontiff from Pope Francis’s playbook.

When Francis was elected in 2013, the cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel chose an Argentinian who described himself as “from the ends of the earth”. The new Pope Leo is not quite that – he is from Chicago – but he knows something of poverty and injustice. He worked in Peru as a missionary for his religious order, the Augustinians, and later served as a bishop there. And some weeks ago, an X/Twitter account of Robert Prevost reposted a criticism of Trump and Vance’s migration policies that asked if they had a conscience.

A clue as to how Prevost sees his role as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics comes in his choice of papal name. In the Catholic world, a Leo is seen as a reformer pope, not least because the last, Leo XIII, wrote a famous encyclical – or teaching document – in 1891 on workers’ rights and the importance of trade unions.

Although Prevost was not spoken of as a candidate for pope as often as Luis Tagle, who was dubbed the “Asian Francis”, or Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, he was frequently mentioned in long lists of those who are papabile – possible popes. His combination of experience as a missionary, as a diocesan bishop, and as a Vatican insider heading the office that deals with appointing bishops gave him the skills and experience that will be vital as the leader of the Catholic Church. These include administrative nous, pastoral qualities, and an understanding of the world beyond the Vatican, beyond the United States, and in areas where poverty and injustice are dominant.

All manner of people are now claiming Leo XIV as one of their own. Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, has called him Leo XIV of Illinois. Barack Obama, who became involved in politics in Chicago, has declared the new Pope Leo a “fellow Chicagoan”, while Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte, has claimed him as a Peruvian.

What Boluarte said of Pope Leo, who apparently became a Peruvian citizen 10 years ago, is particularly pertinent to gauge some insight into who this new pope is and why the cardinal electors chose him so speedily: “In our lands, he sowed hope and walked alongside the most needy.”

This is the version of the Catholic Church that Pope Francis epitomised and which has been so influenced by the liberation theologians of Latin America: a church that stands in solidarity with the poor. It has caused trouble in the past. As the Brazilian theologian Helder Camara once said: “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist.”

During the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, there was deep suspicion of Latin American influence in the Church. Now, with Francis and Leo XIV, the Latin American version of the Catholic faith seems to be coming to the fore.

It’s apparent, though, that the new Pope Leo’s team wanted more than this focus on the poor. They spoke of the need for a pope who could be a bridge, someone who could offer both the world and the Church itself a means of bridging divides. That will be the hardest task of all for the new pope.